RICO J. PUNO, “The Total Entertainer,” passed away on Tuesday, October 29, due to heart failure.
In his lifetime, “Rico J.” was the complete package: OPM pioneer, comedian, actor, TV host, politician and entrepreneur.
But to his generation, he will always be remembered exceptionally for his remake of Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were” in Taglish (before the term was even made up).
He delivered the classic line, “Namamasyal pa sa Luneta…/ Na walang pera…” in a soulful rasp that reverberated on the airwaves during the early years of the martial law era.
It sounded different. It was the coolest thing on the radio. It claimed teenage hearts and minds, and so did the singer.
In the ensuing decades, Rico J. would venture into dance-friendly songs like “Macho Gwapito,” but music listeners here and abroad would prefer his easy-listening croons in Filipinized versions of The Greatest Love of All, One Last Memory, and more so with his catchy, memorable ballads such as “Kapalaran,” “Buhat,” “Ang Tao’y Marupok” and “Lupa.”
With indelible, throaty renditions, his certified hits contributed to best-selling albums and records-smashing live concerts here and abroad.
A big debut earned him the Aliw Awards for Promising Entertainer in 1975. He turned that promise into four decades of consummate craftsmanship in modern Filipino music for which he received the Special Lifetime Achievement award from ABS-CBN in 2017.
With a huge musical stature, it was inevitable for Rico J. to go into acting, and then politics—the usual career cycle in Philippine showbiz.
The mustachioed musician also became known as a comedian who occasionally blurted out funny, but sexy “hugot” lines. His biggest fans were women, and he would always bring his audience to a hearty, lusty laugh as he performed in recent revival shows with fellow OPM greats.
Meanwhile, Rico J. Puno, the politician, was elected councilor of Makati City for three consecutive terms beginning in 1998. At the time of his passing, Rico J. was actually preparing for a comeback in next year’s elections.
As a showbiz personality, he led a charmed musical life. There were reports of controversies bordering the personal, but they never made it past the rumor grist.
Offstage, Rico J. carried himself like a common man, unaffected by his own greatness in the eyes of others.
In “Lupa,” he might as well have written his own obit: “Nagmula sa lupa…/ Magbabalik na kusa…/ Ang buhay mong sa lupa nagmula.”
Rico J. may have broken through on the other side, but his memories will linger on in the airwaves, in karaoke events, and in the hearts of those he touched with his unforgettable music and down-to-earth wit.
Image credits: Artist's Facebook Page